Windows XP Upgrades

[Sarxis]

So basically, you HAVE to have an internet connection to use XP, right?

[GodSpawn]

Originally posted by Anunikoba
So basically, you HAVE to have an internet connection to use XP, right?

If you have no internet connection, there's a toll-free number you can call to activate it. So no, you don't need an internet connection.

[Sarxis]

Thanx

[btw- I do have an internet connection, but I was just curious. ]

[Earthling7]

Guess I won't be replacing my 98SE. We have two computers, and although we have enough 98 to go around (OEM), I do not fancy buying two XPs.

Even if I had only one PC, I would not buy it. I hate babbleware.

[Lee Johnson]

Um...

Well for one, like 2000, it never crashes. Period. Crashes do not happen. The OS has simply never stopped. Occassionly programs will crash but that has never resulted in the OS stopping. Quite simply it is crash-proof.

I would agree that Windows 2000 and Windows XP are vastly more stable than 95/98/Me, but this statement is patently untrue. It is possible, for example, for bad device drivers to hose the 2000/XP kernel in ways that make your system go bye-bye. I have experienced occasional Blue Screens of Death while running 2000, and SMAC has a nasty habit of hanging my system very quickly under 2000 and XP.

That said, I would still recommend XP over Windows 9x for new buyers with the hardware to run it well.

[Lee Johnson]

Oh, by the way...

... I wouldn't run XP on less than 256MB of RAM. It will work on 128MB, but you'll enjoy it a lot more with extra memory. RAM is cheap enough now, anyway (unless you're one of those poor souls buying RDRAM for their Pentium 4 systems.)

[Mahdimael]

I would get XP, but don't put it on your system yet. My friend got a free copy from his work (HP). They use it so they will have drivers available from the get-go. I installed it on my system (Athlon 1.4Ghz, 256Megs DDR ram) and it ran very quickly and decently. However, I did have a number of problems:

1. Hardware conflicts- for whatever reason, XP had difficulty with my sound card (Monster Sound MX300). This was a headache I wasn't able to resolve.

2. Some DOS games and almost all my older 98 games wouldn't run correctly in XP. Any game that didn't have Win 2000 support wouldn't run correctly. Windows even gave me an error that Half-Life "would not run correctly under XP without a patch from Sierra".

3. Some lockups/random reboots (May have been caused by hardware conflicts)

I suggest you get it and keep it til the 1st service pack is released, then install it. It looks like a great OS, it just needs a patch or two.

[Ozymandous]

Originally posted by Mahdimael

2. Some DOS games and almost all my older 98 games wouldn't run correctly in XP. Any game that didn't have Win 2000 support wouldn't run correctly. Windows even gave me an error that Half-Life "would not run correctly under XP without a patch from Sierra".

I suggest you get it and keep it til the 1st service pack is released, then install it. It looks like a great OS, it just needs a patch or two.

Regarding #2, I thought there was a feature in XP that allowed games to emulate their native environment? I.e. Install the game as usual but right click on a desktop shortcut and select to run the game via DOS, Win95/98, Win2000 "emulator" built in.

Is this not the case?

Also, how does Java work with XP, anyone know? Oh, and I'd also wait until the first OS upgrade as well just to be safe.

[Provost Harrison]

Well I am currently 'working' on acquiring Windows XP. I have an Athlon 700 with 384Mb RAM, so I reckon it should cope with it without too much hassle.

[saracen31]

Originally posted by Ozymandous:
Regarding #2, I thought there was a feature in XP that allowed games to emulate their native environment? I.e. Install the game as usual but right click on a desktop shortcut and select to run the game via DOS, Win95/98, Win2000 "emulator" built in.

Seems to work better in theory than in practice. Yes, there is a right-click option to emulate native environments, but I haven't needed it yet. I think some publishers are just holding off on patches until XP is an actual released product. That explains the soundcard problems too. SoundBlaster, for example, is holding off - who wants to create new drivers for a product in beta?

Also, how does Java work with XP, anyone know?

I'm using the JBuilder 5 IDE, it's a lot more attractive & runs faster in XP than in Win 98SE.

[Chowlett]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Well I am currently 'working' on acquiring Windows XP. I have an Athlon 700 with 384Mb RAM, so I reckon it should cope with it without too much hassle.

Does that mean me?

[Earthling7]

I may lose this battle in the long run, but I refuse to buy babbleware. I have nothing against registering software if it benefits me in some way, but compulsary babble is unacceptable!

[Mahdimael]

Originally posted by Ozymandous


Regarding #2, I thought there was a feature in XP that allowed games to emulate their native environment? I.e. Install the game as usual but right click on a desktop shortcut and select to run the game via DOS, Win95/98, Win2000 "emulator" built in.

Is this not the case?

Also, how does Java work with XP, anyone know? Oh, and I'd also wait until the first OS upgrade as well just to be safe.

Yes, you can choose to emulate 95, 98, 2000 or NT. It doesn't work very well, and the emulation seems to be just that...I've noticed slower performance in 98 compatibility mode than on my machine w/ 98 installed. In some emulation modes, games won't work, nor will they in XP native mode.

Surprisingly, a number of original 95 and DOS games worked fine..Colonization for Windows, Imperialism 2, Pirates Gold. But a majority of the stuff I have doesn't work.

[tniem]

Re: Um...

Originally posted by Lee Johnson
I would agree that Windows 2000 and Windows XP are vastly more stable than 95/98/Me, but this statement is patently untrue. It is possible, for example, for bad device drivers to hose the 2000/XP kernel in ways that make your system go bye-bye. I have experienced occasional Blue Screens of Death while running 2000, and SMAC has a nasty habit of hanging my system very quickly under 2000 and XP.

Yes, you are right, it is possible. But it doesn't happen often. I have gone three weeks without a single hitch and the only reason it wasn't longer is that I was going away for a weekend and shut my computer down. When I first installed I did get the blue screen of death but because I had a driver that was not 2000/XP complient. Took one download to fix that and since that not a single problem.

That's compared with Windows ME where it crashed every hour on the hour. No joke. That is why I originally got Windows 2K so that I wouldn't have to deal with ME and now XP just goes further. Slick interface plus amazingly good stability and a decent OS. Certainly the best MS OS ever.


By the way, sorry about SMAC, mine works fine.

[Khab]

If you're worried about not being able to play in XP, just do a separate partition for it - even if you upgrade from 98, all you have to do is make two installs of 98 and then upgrade one of them while keeping the other. Or, if you've got partitionmagic, just make a new partition to install 98 and then XP on.

I haven't tried XP myself, but my best mate's been testing it, and it's a dream of an OS. I'm going to get a new HD, install XP on it, and then let 98 wither away on this old disk.